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- Presidents Reports for 2002 |
President’s Message -
May 2002
Well here we go into a new club year. Our greatful
thanks to Andrew and his crew for all the work the committee put
into last years events. On Monday the 29th the old and
new committee met to enable a smooth hand over of information as
possible. For the new dcommittee the next meeting will be 7:30pm
June 3rd at Graham VK3KCS’s QTH.
We are this year celebrating the 25th Anniversary of
the formation of our club and it has been decided to combine our
annual mid winter dinner with a special dinner to mark the event.
The date is to July 27th and the venue is the Cardinia
Park Hotel, Beaconsfield. This will be a ticket only function. We
have exclusive use a room that can seat up to 80 people so please
set aside the date and pass it on ot any members or ex-members you
meet. We will be taking names at our May meeting and tickets and
money will change hands in June.
We have also applied to the ACA for a VI prefix to commence on
the night of the dinner which will be available to members until
the end of the year.
As you are aware only two of last years committee have continued
this year so there will be a settling in time before we really get
this years program on the road and I am appealing to all members
to consider ideas for speakers and outings. Don’t keep your knowledge
to yourself – pass it on to a committee member. Remember the club
is yours and what you put in is what you get out (zero volts in
= zero volts out).
In the same vain it is not easy to produce a magazine month after
month without input from you the members so please email or post
those ideas you have or see in other publications that would be
of interest to Phil – QTHR. I doubt you would like to be responsible
for his premature baldness caused by much head scratching on magazine
production days.
That just leaves me to remind you all that subs are now due and
our treasurer will be looking for cheerful dontations at our next
meeting on the 17th of May. I am looking forward to seeing
you there and at the various events being planed for the coming
year. I can be reached on 03 59983533 or 146.225 simplex, 438.850
simplex and the club 6 metre repeater 53.575 Mhz (and thanks to
the guys who keep the repeater working in spite of all the ants).
73 Peter VK3VB
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President’s Message - April 2002
Hi everybody,
Welcome to my last (most
likely!) presidents message. It seems the year has disappeared without
a trace and its time for me to hang up my hat and let somebody else
have a go. Time constraints with shift work and a new study regime
does not really leave me the time to be a good president, and besides
it really needs somebody with better technical knowledge than me,
or at least a team behind them like I have had.
I would like to single
out Bruno for some special mention; I know he has made a lot of
sacrifices for the club over the last year and put in more time
than he should have simply because I have not been able to make
a lot of "president" things. Thanks Bruno for your patience and
expertise, the club and I really appreciated it.
The rest of the committee,
most of who have retired or are retiring, have done a great job
in keeping the club running. It does take some time out of your
life and they have all given that freely for the benefit of the
club. It is difficult to come up with fresh ideas month after month
so a new committee with new members can only be a good thing.
There have been some
reservations expressed about the long-term future of the club recently.
The difficult issue of public liability insurance has made quite
a few people, not only committee members, feel uncomfortable with
their position. It is an issue that won’t go away and one we have
to resolve very quickly if the club is going to survive in the long
term. There is no doubt that this is going to add further financial
responsibility to each and every member and I don’t think it is
only going to be a couple of dollars each. I am sure it will dominate
the committee meeting scheduled for tonight.
The move to the scout’s
premises is still a discussion item. We are having the District
Commissioner (?) along to the committee meeting and hope to resolve
a few issues then, we will let you know at the general meeting what
transpires. If you get a chance pop around to the scout hall and
have a look around so you can form your own opinion.
We need new committee
members! Most of the current committee are not standing, and I would
not be if some of them were! Last I heard, and I didn’t make the
prac night, is that we only have one volunteer. I will stand for
a committee position (may even do treasurer) simply because I believe
we need some continuity between the old and the new, I may not be
able to make all the meetings though.. So come along, put your hand
up, and put something back into the club. Or watch it fade away!
We will be moving for
fees to increase by $2 across the board at the meeting prior to
the annual general meeting. So if the old fees are still published
on the front page you will need to add $2 to them before dispatching
them to us. It is likely that we will be asking members for significantly
more to cover the cost of insurance! (Our only alternative may be
to not have a HAMFEST which in the main is our only "risk")
Thanks for giving me
the opportunity to be your president this year I have really enjoyed
it and learnt a lot along the way. Give some serious consideration
to the club and its future; nobody likes to see something that is
25 years old simply disappear! Its your club make the most of it.
Cheers for now, Andrew
VK3HFA
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President’s Message - March 2002
Hi everybody,
Well 12 months is nearly up as president with the annual general
meeting next month. Please give some serious consideration to standing
for the committee. It is not an overly difficult task but with some
new things likely to happen we need some committed people to help
us maintain the club and to lead it into the future.
In particular, with Bruno not running this year, we will need a
secretary. They are pretty big shoes to fill, Bruno has put in a
lot of time and effort for the club over the last three years and
has decided to take a well-earned break on the backbenches, and
so somebody has to put their hand up. Perhaps one of the ladies
can help?
As for me I still haven’t decided whether I will run or not. Work
and study commitments are taking a large chunk of my life until
December but then again I would like to see some continuity with
the new committee so I am leaning towards standing again, if the
club wants me too.
Thanks to Reg 3UK and Albert 3BQO for volunteering to run the hamfest
following on from the good work Russ 3MWR has done over the last
couple of years. Thanks also to John Whittingham for volunteering
to edit the magazine for a couple of months whilst Phil is unavailable.
Volunteers are the backbone of any club, its not a hard task to
be on the committee, it is a voluntary one, however, and I for one
am not very good at coercing people to do things they don’t feel
comfortable volunteering.
For your information the following current committee members are
not standing (I hope I have got this right) : Bruno BFT, Ian VIB
and Dave XMF.
Cheers for now, Andrew VK3HFA
Don’t Forget – Membership Fee’s Fall Due At The Agm In
April.
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President’s Message - February 2002
Hi everybody,
A lot seems to be happening this month so keep an eye on the event
calendar. It is impossible to arrange things so that everybody can
make it along, I myself have been tied up quite a bit and that has
been a bit of a nuisance, so make as many as you can and enjoy the
fellowship of the other club members.
The committee met the other night and a number of items were discussed
that we will need to consider at the next general meeting (Friday
15th) :
The club is 25 years old this year and, although I have been part
of it for only a few, that is an event worth celebrating. We need
to make a decision as to whether we go "out" for the evening
or we do the same as last year and jazz it up a bit. If we decide
we are going out, where do we want to go and how much do we want
to spend? The Settlement Hotel was suggested as a venue because
of its support for families but we are open to other suggestions/ideas
so put your thinking caps on.
We need an editor for the magazine for a couple of months (August/September
I think it was). Phil will not be available over that time, so a
volunteer would be good or I will start asking around.
The committee discussed the issue of fees for the coming year.
After consideration it will be our recommendation that, rather than
a big rise every few years, fees be increased by $2 across the board
this year. Your fees pay for a lot of things, including this magazine,
your tea and coffee and biscuits etc etc. The club funds have remained
static and as we look to possibly re-locate or build our own clubrooms
we will require additional funds (far in excess of the $2 a year).
The future of the club. We need new members for the club to
survive in the long term. Therefore, we need strategies to attract
new members i.e. a plan for the future. Your ideas are needed. There
is no easy solution to this problem, one idea put forward was that
we run a "quickie" course so that we can get people up
and running on a "H" call and develop them from there.
What do you think? Come along to the next meeting and have your
say or if you can’t make it put it in writing and send it in.
Should be a good meeting, and our guest speaker will be from the
Kidney Foundation.
Cheers for now, Andrew VK3HFA
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President’s Message - January 2002
Well I hope you
all have had a pleasant Christmas and a great start to the new year.
Did the fat man bring you any interesting radio bits and pieces? As
for me I had to work both Christmas Day and New Years eve so there
was not that much time for any big celebrations but nevertheless it
has been an interesting time. My big vow for the year is to have more
fun!!!!
The committee is starting
to look at events for the year with a few already in the pipeline.
If anybody has any ideas we will be only too happy to hear them.
The IRLP project is
well under way I hope that we can get an update at the next general
meeting, with an explanation of how the whole thing works.
Peter and Pat Pavey
have offered to continue to run the exams for the club under the
new WIA process, more of which you will hear about at the meeting,
it is great that we have people willing to put up there hands and
volunteer at many levels for the club.
Well this is a bit late
(again) so I best send it off to our magazine editor with apologies!
I am sure Phil would love to get an article or two from you on your
favourite electronics subject.
Take care and enjoy
2002.
Cheers for now, Andrew
VK3HFA
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G G R E C Christmas Party At Bruno's QTH December 1999
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